So.... how do i be good at game?

[ou3ndan]

Hey guys, i'm new to the smash boards, i've always loved smash but i've also always sucked at it.

I want to get good but I have no idea how. I have no friends who play smash or a local scene (North England), my Wii doesn't play gamecube games (it's weird) and I saw alot of tournament matches and decided I want to get better at smash. I don't want to be the best in the world and win all the major tournaments etc etc, thats not my motivation, I just want to get good at smash so I can have fun. Are there any begginers guides on how to start getting better at project m? I know there's TONS of guides on how to wavedash, how to short hop, how to L-Cancel etc etc but when I play against CPU bots I just don't get what todo, Yesterday I spent 2 hours learning how to wavedash with luigi and then played a CPU bot and didnt feel like i had gotten any better, infat in the matches I played I didn't even wavedash...

Should I start of by picking a character and learning to get good with that character or something? If that's the case who should a begginer like me play as?

 

[Mystic-]

I've only been playing a couple of months and I'm already able to compete against some of the top local players (I'm not amazing yet but I can do all the basic tech and think I've improved fairly rapidly) and I'll tell you what I did to learn

1.) Pick a character. Doesn't matter what character, just pick your favorite character. You don't have a favorite character? Pick Falcon or Fox imo. Don't pick anyone because they're easy or you are doing with them or anything like that. I literally couldn't hit a knee on a standing still target when I started but I thought Falcon was the coolest character and now I can do most of the cool stuff I saw Falcon's doing (still need to refine a lot of stuff though) and I'm super happy I didn't pick anyone else just because they were easier and I was doing better with them. Anyways, Fox and Falcon are really good to learn on because Falcon is basically just the fundamentals of the game. If you're good at Falcon the skills you learn transfer over really well to any other character. Fox is just hard so if you suffer through learning him you'll be able to control everyone fairly well.

2.) Learn basic tech and strategy. So, if you choose Falcon you would want to learn what you should be doing. Falcon is a difficult character to play at a high level but he's fairly simple to explain. You want to dash dance (run back and forth until you bait out a move that leaves the opponent vulnerable basically) into a grab or a SHFFL'd nair in the neutral game (where both characters are standing up and in a 'neutral' position). Then, you figure out what throws work on which people, and react to the other character to choose how to combo them.

For tech, if differs from character to character but most are the fundamentals + a few character specific ones
For Falcon it's most important to learn how to SHFFL, JC grab, and dash dance and that's true for a lot of other characters too. He doesn't have a very big wavedash so it's not as vital to learn how to do right away but someone like Luigi relies on WD's heavily for his ground mobility so if you like Luigi you would want to learn WD'ing ASAP.
To actually learn techs, separate them into small chunks. For SHFFLing, first learn how to short hop every time. Yes, it sucks and will be frustrating but you'll get it sooner than you think. It's all about speed and letting go of the jump button before your character leaves the ground. Then, learn to throw out an aerial in your short hop. Do this until you can do all the aerials consistently. Then learn to fast fall after your aerial, and finally learn to l-cancel. Learn to L-cancel the air, on a shielding enemy, and on a non-shielding enemy as they have different timings.

 

[Phaiyte]

Wavedashing with Luigi is no different than doing it with any other character of the same jumpsquat. Wavedashing also doesn't instantly make you better, tbph. All it is is a positioning tool, just like any other movement option in the game. One of the main things I see in my current scene is there's a lot of new players that focus so heavily on "tech skill" but absolutely nothing on fighting game fundamentals, and then we go into a tournament and they get DESTROYED by the street fighter players that know nothing more than basic footsies.

The actual most important skill in this game is dash dance. Don't just rush in all willy nilly. You will get shut down every time. Also, by dash dance I don't mean just hitting left/right extremely fast in one spot. Doing that doesn't really help because if someone throws out an attack you won't be dodging it staying in place like that. For a lot of the faster running characters, you can use this as your primary movement option on the ground and be totally fine. Just flick the stick in one direction, let it return to neutral, let your character take its step, and repeat. You can keep moving the same direction you were before, you can change directions instantly, whatever you want. Mix it up, nah'mean.

Learn how to short hop, how to fast fall, and how to L cancel, all seperately at first. Eventually combine all of that into one fluid motion.

 

[Mean Green]

The other answers are great tho they arguably might have too much jargon.

Watch this vid, it's a good starting point even though it's for Melee.
2:26 - 2:29 best universal advice for practice

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

1. CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER(s)
   
2. Play against your friends, A LOT
   
3. Learn basic fundamentals
   
4. Watch videos about these fundamentals so you can better understand them and then apply them in game
5. Visit Smashboards frequently, to learn about Match ups and tech only your character(s) can do
6. Apply them to your game
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6

 

[Altanic]

Learn the techs in training and then play matches using those techs, even if you get bodied. You have to make a conscious effort to use them, and you'll make a lot of mistakes and you'll be confused and like "Wtf am I even doing how does this work?" After a bit of trial and error you'll start learning and you'll figure out their purposes. L-cancelling is obviously quite self-explanatory, but it'll take some practice to figure out how to effectively use wavedashing and wavelanding but you'll get it. I wouldn't recommend playing any specific character, just play whoever you would normally play so that whenever you do begin to understand the uses of techs and dash dancing, you'll immediately be able to implement them into your combos and movement since you already have a solid basic understanding of your character. It's all practice. Just play a lot. I like to learn new things vs CPUs and then put them to the test versus real players and then figure what works and what doesn't and what needs adjusted in my play. I practice combos and movement a lot in training mode. When you get the hang of wavedashing/landing practice wavelanding on and off of platforms, practice wavedashing/landing to extend combos, and wavedashing while dashdancing. Like I said, I usually practice new things or solidify known things in training then test them versus real people and adjust from there. It's a lot of experimentation as well. Even if you don't have people to play against, just play the game anyways because you will still improve and learn. That's my advice, and good luck! Remember to have fun with it too, it can be frustrating but keep trying! Also, try not to go into autopilot vs people (like always approaching and being aggressive.) Some people can't handle aggression but be conscious of the choices they make and how they are positioning themselves, etc. Okay, done now :3 Good luck again!

 

[Chez G.]

This thread is just what I need. It's pretty hard for me to play against human players. My brother has lost interest in Smash Bros and I can't go to tournaments because of money issues and because I have school. However, with the great responses here, I have found several ways to improve my game! So for that alone, thanks everybody!

 

[Fortress]

Watch this until your eyes bleed.

Watch it some more.

Do fifty short hops in a row with Falco. Done? Do one-hundred in a row with Link. Now do fifty more with Sheik. Do this for a weekend. Nothing but shorthops. Drill your tech skill until it's absolutely impossible to do any of it incorrectly. That's how I started, anyway. I was a lab freak. Tech will only get you so far though.

 

[Retrolistic]

There's no easy way route to take to get good at Smash Bros, just have to grind it out and experiment.
Watch videos of other players and try to imitate it from your favorite character? Generally just keep playing the game.
Practice makes perfect!